I will admit that before becoming a mom myself, I definitely did not understand what it meant to be on maternity leave or look after a new baby. I even naively thought that while on leave I would have time to read books and work on multiple projects while my baby slept peacefully beside me. I definitely didn't realize that newborns need to eat every 2-3 hours or that feedings could take a while (and that you count 2-3 hours from the beginning of the feed, not the end of it...).
So in order to better prepare first time moms for what they’re in for, I’m sharing a typical day in the life of my newborn baby, Lina.
7-730am: Sneak out of bed so I can quickly grab a shower. If I do not time this well or she wakes up before I do, I will remain a smelly mess for the entire day.
730-8am: Shower, all the while trying to listen in case she starts crying (although if she did, would I jump out of the shower soaking wet and tend to her?) I ponder this as I wash my hair, playing it dangerously.
8-815am: Get ready faster than Usain Bolt.
815-845am: Grab her from my bed (since this is where she ends up sleeping the last stretch of her night). Feed, burp, change and get her dressed for the day.
845-9am: Attempt to make breakfast and coffee while putting her in her car seat so she can watch me. Question if this makes me a terrible mother. Enjoys coffee warm and think, she won’t remember this anyways.
9-1030/11am: Get her ready to go for a walk in her stroller and walk around the neighbourhood while listening to music, a podcast or phoning a friend.
11-1130am: Get home and undress her from her outside clothes. Feed, burp and change her again.
1130-1135am: Assemble the Beluga Baby wrap and place her in it. Rock, sway or bounce to get her to sleep.
1135-1230pm: Make lunch and eat said lunch. Pray to god she doesn’t wake up and try not to spill crumbs on her head. Fail most times. Sorry, Lina.
1230-130/2pm: Get her ready for another walk and prance around the neighbourhood again.
2-230pm: Get home and change her out of her outside clothes. Feed, burp and change her again.
230-3pm: Realize I haven’t done tummy time with her all day (feel guilty). Bring her to her mat and let her chill on her back and look at herself in the mirror. When she’s happy, turn her on her front so she can have her tummy time. This lasts less than 2 minutes long because she acts like I’ve murdered her whole family.
3-430pm: Put on some trash TV or movie while she naps. Don’t actually watch it because I’m too busy scrolling through Instagram. Why is it so damn addictive?
430-5pm: Realize my husband will be home soon so start getting dinner prepped and/or start making dinner. Feed, burp and change her again.
5-530pm: My husband arrives home and immediately goes to poop/smoke and/or get changed from his day of work. Wonder why husbands do this. Is this part of their contract as dads? I continue making dinner while holding the baby in the Beluga Baby wrap or in her car seat.
530-630pm: Husband and I try to alternate between holding her and eating. If we‘re lucky, she’ll sit quietly in her car seat in the middle of the kitchen table while we both eat a warm meal.
630-7pm: Feed, burp and change her again.
7-8pm: She has her witching hour where she screams bloody murder while we try to soothe her, feed her and change her again.
8-930pm: Bring her up to bed to calm her down before she goes to sleep. This can consist of either bathing her, reading her a night time story and/or baby massage with lotion. Sometimes she gets all three. Lucky girl!
930-12am: She will usually co-sleep with me in our bed while my husband hangs out and does his own thing downstairs.
From 12am until 7am, she will often wake only 2-3 times (normally at 12, then again at 330/4am and then 630/7am). I will admit I am very fortunate that she will go down relatively easy after a feed and a diaper change. I will often put her down in her bassinet a little drowsy and she will put herself to sleep. I attribute this to not turning on any lights when I change and feed her (I will do it in this order) and simply rely on the night light in her room (which is pretty damn good - it was a great late night nursing purchase on Amazon).
And there you have it - a typical day in the life of a newborn. Please note that I didn’t make any mention of my own bathroom breaks and time to work on the special projects and the books I thought I’d be reading. Oh, to be young and naive. Welcome to motherhood!